MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The time for Mulerider Football has finally arrived. 277 days… that is how long it has been since Southern Arkansas claimed its' first ten-win season since 1952. Head Coach Brad Smiley heads into his third stint as the Muleriders' head football coach and looks to begin the 2024 season off right in Durant, Oklahoma Thursday night. SAU Football has been riding the hype train throughout the offseason with new looks from national media such as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) rewarding the Muleriders with 24 votes in the association's preseason poll along with being the third-highest voted member of the Great American Conference with 100 points and a first-place vote. The season-opening battle in Durant, Oklahoma is set to take place at 6:00 p.m. at Paul Laird Field on Thursday.
 
Week 1 Matchup
  >>> With the 106th season of Mulerider Football on the horizon, Head Coach Brad Smiley goes into his third season in Magnolia with expectations at an all-time high. SAU was voted third in the GAC preseason poll as they are set to open the season on the road at Southeastern Oklahoma.
>>> The season-opening Thursday night is set to be the only preseason top-five matchup with the GAC during week one. The Savage Storm go back-to-back seasons earning the fifth-spot in the poll while the Muleriders cracked the top-three and receive a first-place vote for the first time since 2019. 
>>> SAU begins the season on the road for the first time since 2021 when the Muleriders took their longest trip of the year first to Alva, Oklahoma.
>>> After defeating the Savage Storm last fall, the Muleriders are gifted the opportunity to begin a winning streak against SE for the first time since the two joined the GAC. Prior to last season's bout, the Savage Storm claimed its first back-to-back victories in the conference series after defeating the Muleriders in Durant and Magnolia.
>>> One can say that the road was Southern Arkansas biggest weakness during the previous campaign, considering the group just went 4-1 while away from home or a neutral site. The Muleriders lone loss on the road came to (#5/9) Ouachita Baptist.
>>> Over Coach Smiley's two years at Southern Arkansas, he has accumulated an overall record of 8-4 when against programs out of the Sooner State. in year one, Smiley finished 2-4 against the teams from Oklahoma, but this last year saw the third-year coach sweep the plains with a 6-0 record versus the groups from Oklahoma.
 
Last Season…
>>> was the second season for head coach Brad Smiley as he carried the Muleriders to their second ten-win season in the program's history.
>>> saw the Muleriders end the campaign undefeated at home for the fifth time since becoming members of the Great American Conference and the seventh time since joining the NCAA in 1995.
>>> ended with Southern Arkansas claiming its first bowl game victory since becoming a member of the NCAA and the first postseason triumph since winning the Aztec Bowl in 1990.
>>> saw the Muleriders finish with the fifth-best average offensive yards per game in the nation with 476.5, which was also the best in the GAC. Southern Arkansas' rushing offense sat at third in the country and the league as SAU averaged 290.2 yards on the ground.
>>> saw nine Muleriders earn All-GAC honors of which all are set to return for the 2024 season: all-league first teamers Jariq Scales, Colton Grier, and Melvin Smith Jr., all-league second teamer Matthew Whitten, and honorable mentions Cole Williams, Conner Hagerty, Dawson Scott, Elvin Calhoun, and Hosea Singleton. Melvin Smith Jr. made the American Football Coaches Association's list for First Team All-American.
>>> saw five Muleriders honored as CSC Academic All-District performers with Scales being named Academic All-Americans.
 
Schedule Quick Hits
>>> The 11-game regular season slate under third-year head football coach Brad Smiley includes four home games inside Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field as well as the program's annual trip east to El Dorado to make its 13th appearance all-time and 10th-consecutive in the Murphy USA Classic.
>>> Since 2012, the Muleriders are 40-10 at home inside Wilkins Stadium with unbeaten home schedules in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2023. From October 10, 2015 through September 14, 2019, the Muleriders won 17-consecutive home games which stood as the longest active streak in DII. Additionally, SAU has made five trips to the postseason playing in bowl games in 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2023.
>>> Year two under Brad Smiley was one that all of Mulerider faithful will go on to remember as Southern Arkansas claimed its' first bowl game victory as an affiliate of the NCAA (1991). Mulerider Football provided stellar offense on the ground and through the air, but most importantly... the cultural change in defense is what provided SAU with its' first ten-win season since 1952 as the Muleriders capped off 2023 with a 43-27 win against MIAA opponent Missouri Western.
 
Notables: Southern Arkansas
>>> Southern Arkansas 2024 campaign has already seen quite the spotlight among the GAC as the group holds three D2Footabal Elite 100 Watchlist players in Colton Grier (First Team Offense), Melvin Smith Jr. (First Team Defense), and Jariq Scales (SQUAD Offense).
>>> Smith Jr. is currently being recognized as the lone player out of the Great American Conference to be among the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 Watchlist and the Reese;s Senior Bowl Watchlist. Both list cover all of college football entirely which includes NCAA DI, II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA.  For the Shrine Bowl, the Mulerider's defensive back is just one of 15 athletes from Division II universities with the recognition.
>>> Last year's squad was given high-praise for how many returners/lettermen came back for another season with Coach Smiley. This year's squad however brings back 59 lettermen and loses just four out of the 25 starters (kickers & punter included). The major difference seen between this season and last is the senior classes. Smiley does not lack much with this troupe according to preseason observations, but especially not in experience. Smiley's squad consists of 51 upperclassmen that include 25 juniors and 26 seniors/graduate students (3).
>>> While the team of players sees many familiar faces, Smiley's coaching staff has seen drastic changes since the end of the 2023 season in Texarkana, Arkansas. The third-year head coach walks into 2024 with a new offensive and defensive coordinator in Kyle Washington and Dionte Dean along with new linebackers coach Matt Tyler. These additions from the carousel come after former DC and LB coach Will Reed and Derrick Berry took their talents to the United Football League's San Antonio Brahmas. Former OC Andrew Rice took the head coaching gig at Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Southern Arkansas By The Numbers
870 - the area code of the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the state of Arkansas. It is also the three numbers of the Mulerider Football leadership team voted on by fellow teammates a part of the program. This relatively new tradition began last season for the Muleriders with the number 8 being the defensive leader, 7 the offensive leader, and 0 being the team leader. The newest member of the leadership team is defensive end Dawson Scott who will be donning the number 8 uniform. Returning leaders, wide receiver Cole Williams and tight end Matthew Whitten will be swapping number with Williams in 7 and Whitten in 0.
100 - the number of elite student-athletes across NCAA DII to be named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watchlist. The Muleriders see three stars among teh watchlist with senior offensive tackle Colton Grier and senior defensive back Melvin Smith Jr. both on the First-Team Offense and Defense. Southern Arkansas lead rusher, Jariq Scales, saw his name located amongst the list on the SQUAD Offense, which is D2Football's honorable mentions list. The top-three teams in the GAC tie for the most amongst the league with three each.
24 - the amount of votes the Muleriders received in the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) 2024 Preseason Coaches Poll. Southern Arkansas earns its' second-consecutive preseason notoriety as the Muleriders were given two votes in 2023. The Muleriders 24 votes are the most earned since receiving 14 votes in the 2019 edition of the preseason poll. Including SAU, the Great American Conference, for two seasons in-a-row, has four programs represented in the poll (#1 Harding, #19 Ouachita Baptist, and (RV) Henderson St.
3 - the Muleriders' national ranking for rushing offense per outing with 290.2/gm. The Muleriders' ranking at third in the nation also goes for the Great American Conference as Southern Arkansas sat behind the 2023 national champs, Harding, and Southern Nazarene. In total, SAU accounted for 3,482 rushing yards last Fall and was just 23 yards shy of SNU (3,505). The Bisons recorded 6,160 rushing yards on 887 attempts (308 more than SAU).
 
Notables: Southeastern Oklahoma
>>> Bo Atterberry goes into his seventh season as the Savage Storm's head coach while also entering year two since his return to Durant.
>>> Last season, SE finished 5-6 with a record against Natural State competition of 1-4 as the Storm's lone win versus the state of Arkansas came by a 22-21 triumph over Arkansas-Monticello.
>>> A consistency for the Savage Storm since announcing their membership in the Great American Conference 13 years ago, Southeastern Oklahoma State have been dominant against the Muleriders whilst hosting the matchup in Durant, Oklahoma as SE is 4-1 versus Southern Arkansas while at Paul Laird Field. The Muleriders lone win while in Durant came in 2012 with a 31-24 final score.
>>> The Savage Storm's leading rusher, DJ Brown makes his return for his junior campaign as the Leonard, Texas native recorded a net of 671 yard on 144 attempts to average 4.7 yards per carry and four touchdowns on the ground.
>>> In the receiver room, SE is without their two 2023 leading pass catchers Hunter Hawthorne and Marquis Gray. The leading receiver making his way back for SE will be Kaleb Whitley who accounted for 437 yards on 34 receptions and one touchdown. Whitley recorded a longest reception of 62 yards last season and average 12.85 per grab.
>>> It's a new QB room for the Savage Storm as redshirt freshman Luke Hohenberger is set to start for Southeastern Oklahoma State in the season debut.
>>> Coach Atterberry returns last campaign's second-best tackler in junior cornerback, Michael Hookfin. Hookfin recorded 66.0 total tackles last Fall and led the team in solo tackles with 49.
 
Last Season's Matchup
The 2023 edition of the conference matchup proved to be an exciting night for Mulerider fans as they stood witness to the newest standard of defense in Columbia County. The SAU defense held the Savage Storm offense to just 49 yards rushing on 28 attempts (1.8 yards per rush), sacking SOSU quarterback Bryce Fields five times and forcing an early fumble recovery, while also grabbing a pair of interceptions. The defensive performance was highlighted by the newest "number eight" of Smiley's ballclub, Dawson Scott. Scott recorded eight total tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss (14 yards) including 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery which came on the game's second play from scrimmage after junior defensive back Melvin Smith Jr. laid a thunderous hit on Fields who was scrambling near the Savage Storm sideline. The Muleriders went on victorious that night and collected their dues from the two seasons previous versus SE. Now, Southern Arkansas looks to defeat the Storm in Durant for the first time since 2012.